The Dreadful Duo
An alley at the far end of Seongnak-dong, Annam City.
A shop sign dampened by the light rain flickered faintly in the dark.
Yellowed old soju posters clung to the walls, and from the screen of a battered television came the low sound of baseball highlights.
The space smelled of savory oil and old wood.
In a corner where they could lean their backs against the wall, two men were tipping soju into their glasses.
"You worked hard."
Just a few words.
As the glass was filled, the clear liquor sloshed over the brim.
"You worked hard too, Senior."
"What did I do? It was practically all you."
"What kind of talk is that? We did it together."
Lee Joo-seok, who had been staring at Song Tan, let out a snort of laughter.
"I’m not that shameless. You were the one who found the drug factory, and you were the one who slapped the cuffs on that junkie bastard when he came at you all doped up."
"If you hadn’t ordered me to catch Yoo Jeong-ho in the first place, this would never have gone anywhere."
"Hah..."
Lee Joo-seok drained his drink alone and gave a bitter smile.
"You think it was normal, what they did? They just tossed me one photo with no information and told me to catch the criminal. Use your common sense. Did they really hand that over expecting me to just magically catch him?"
"I’m not sure I know much about common sense, but we caught him, didn’t we? Whatever the intention, the result was good. That means we can enjoy it, doesn’t it?"
Watching his junior partner refill the empty glass, Lee Joo-seok let out a faint sigh.
"Damn bastard, you really know how to make a man feel small to the end."
"If I’ve offended you, I apologize."
"Forget it, punk. And... I'm sorry. As a senior, I should’ve helped a junior who was trying his best, not just run around killing the air."
Lee Joo-seok tossed the liquor back in one swallow and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"I wasn’t always this fucked up... Haah. Even I think I’m pathetic."
"Did something happen?"
Lee Joo-seok, who had been reaching for a piece of tofu with his chopsticks, froze and set them down again.
"Something happened, huh... Yeah. Plenty of damn things happened."
"Would you tell me about it?"
"It won’t be fun."
"We didn’t come here to have fun in the first place."
"So the truly unfunny bastard is sitting right here."
With the corners of his mouth lifting only slightly, Lee Joo-seok took another drink and began to speak of his past.
"Twenty-six years ago, both my father and mother died. They were stabbed to death."
It was a shocking story, but Song Tan merely looked at him calmly.
"But do you know who the killer was? It was someone my father trusted. Back then, my father had lent that bastard money, and even after the deadline passed, he wouldn’t pay it back. That money... it was what my parents had saved by running a little food stall their whole lives, struggling every day. They’d scraped together every last coin so they could send me to marriage. And he swallowed it all in one gulp. So of course my father went to his place and made a scene. Told him to hand the money over."
The fluorescent light in the old tavern flickered faintly.
"Only after getting a written promise saying he’d pay it back by a certain date did my father come home. Then that same night, the bastard showed up and started swinging a knife without warning. I was still young enough to have snot running down my nose, but I guess I knew something was wrong by instinct. So before I knew it, I was crawling under the bed. And then I saw it. My father and mother collapsing after being stabbed. The pool of blood spreading across the floor. The stink of it in the air. Damn it, I can still see it like it happened yesterday."
Lee Joo-seok absentmindedly pulled out a cigarette, then spotted the no-smoking sign and shoved it back in.
"Haaah. My body wouldn’t move. I couldn’t even make a sound. The only thing I could do was hide like a rat and watch my parents die."
Song Tan was completely absorbed in the story.
It reminded him of the memories from Number Twenty-Eight in his youth.
Of his parents being slaughtered mercilessly beneath the blades of masked men, a scene still vividly etched into his mind.
Perhaps it was the ache of shared suffering.
"I don’t even remember how we got through the funeral. After that, I stopped going to school and lived like a wreck, until one day it hit me. If I kept letting this black lump inside me sit there, I’d really be screwed. From that day on, I decided that every bad bastard out there—especially the scum who kill people—had to be smashed to pieces."
"So that’s why you never show any mercy?"
Lee Joo-seok brought the glass to his lips again.
"Justice? The people’s champion? I don’t know a damn thing about that. I just wanted to crush bad guys. The kind of thing my idiot younger self couldn’t do..."
Another bitter smile spread across his mouth.
"The problem was, at some point, I stopped being able to control myself. Especially when I saw vicious criminals with no guilt at all—it felt like something in my head would snap. Then I’d come to my senses and suddenly there’d be Internal Affairs, disciplinary action, and all that shit waiting for me."
"You must have gotten a lot of complaints filed against you."
"Heh-heh, there are probably still more than ten on me right now. The fines I’ve paid alone must be worth at least a luxury car. Not that I’m bragging..."
"Can a police salary cover that?"
"Of course not. But my parents left behind a fat insurance payout when they died. Heh-heh. Still, isn’t it funny? Paying the fines I racked up beating the hell out of violent criminals with money that existed because my parents died?"
The TV flashed with a home run highlight, but neither of them looked at it.
They were focused only on each other.
"Running around like a mad colt made life hard for the others. If I acted without thinking, they had to deal with the fallout too."
Lee Joo-seok set down the glass he’d been holding again.
"Then that day came. I was chasing a guy who had stabbed someone and gone on the run. I got too worked up and pushed hard without thinking, and the bastard swung his knife and hit my junior partner. I still can’t forget what that friend said to me while blood was pouring out of him."
For a moment, his eyes wavered.
"He said it was all because of me. Other people might praise me as Annam’s top ace and all that, but that I was nothing more than a vicious selfish bastard who didn’t care what happened to anyone around me as long as I got what I wanted."
A brief silence fell.
"He kept cursing me out, and... he wasn’t wrong. So after that, no matter who got assigned as my partner, I acted even more like a bastard. So they couldn’t last long with me. So they’d get transferred out fast, or run away to another department."
His quiet monologue continued.
"I’m already a ruined man. Even so, I can’t drag everyone around me down with me. No matter how much of a bastard I am."
Under the dim fluorescent light, his face looked lonelier than usual.
Lee Joo-seok, as if it were no big deal, picked up his chopsticks again.
"So don’t waste your bright future on some idiot like me. Get out now while you still can. I’ll talk to Chief Han for you."
"No. I have no intention of leaving your side, Senior."
Lee Joo-seok jerked and slowly поднять his head to stare at Song Tan.
Song Tan lifted a hand sharply.
"Auntie, one more bottle of soju over here."
The owner, who had been watching television, took a bottle of soju from the refrigerator and set it down on the table with a thud.
Song Tan shook the bottle back and forth as he spoke.
"And you still expect me to believe that after hearing all that?"
"On the contrary, it makes me want to follow you even more closely. I’m thinking I should stick to you like glue."
Lee Joo-seok was bewildered.
Anyone who heard him out with sympathy inevitably left in the end.
"I didn’t become a detective out of pure righteousness or some noble spirit of service either. The reasons may be a little different, but I also believe violent criminals should never be left alone."
Lee Joo-seok stared at Song Tan in silence.
As if waiting to hear more before he spoke.
"Our goals match. Besides, your investigative skills are famous enough that even the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency has heard about them. But your biggest problem is that you can’t control your emotions when you see a criminal."
"So?"
"On the other hand, I’m a rookie detective who’s only just started. I lack experience. But unlike you, I can handle criminals without causing any trouble at all. That means we can cover each other’s weaknesses. Isn’t that the very definition of a perfect partnership?"
Lee Joo-seok, already drawn into the calm explanation, asked in a low voice, "You... mean that?"
"You saw it too, didn’t you? I have a weapon other people don’t."
Lee Joo-seok started to say something, then closed his mouth tightly.
There had been one confession after another from suspects no one could make sense of.
Criminals who complained of unbearable pain despite not being visibly harmed.
Everything about it had been a mystery.
"If I asked, you wouldn’t tell me, would you?"
"I’d probably make something up and bluff my way through it. If you want even that much..."
"Forget it, punk."
With a snort of laughter, Lee Joo-seok picked up the soju bottle and refilled Song Tan’s glass.
"It doesn’t matter how you get there if the destination is the same."
Clink.
Their glasses struck together.
It was the clearest, most refreshing sound of the entire night.
"From here on out, steel yourself. We’re going to be so busy chasing down criminal scum you won’t have a second to breathe."
"I’m looking forward to it."
"Now there’s the real psycho."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Just as he was about to drain his glass and reach for another side dish, Lee Joo-seok suddenly froze.
"Ahem. Anyway, I’ve done all the talking about myself. Now it’s your turn. Tell me a little about you."
"What would you like me to tell you?"
"Anything. Tell me whatever your life’s been like."
"Compared to your story, mine feels a little too plain..."
"Whether it’s plain or salty, I’ll be the one to judge it. So just tell me something."
Song Tan, fishing a piece of meat out of the kimchi stew, said indifferently, "My father is a person with dwarfism and a physical disability. My mother died too young, so I don’t even remember her face."
Lee Joo-seok, dumbstruck, set down the chopsticks in his hand.
"Punk, at least turn on your blinker before you cut in. What the hell was that all of a sudden..."
"You did this to me earlier too, Senior."
"I still wasn’t talking while eating side dishes."
Unlike before, relief seemed to have settled on Lee Joo-seok’s face.
Clink.
It had been an ordinary night, but the distance between the two detectives had undeniably shrunk a little.
***
A few days later, the truth of the drug factory was revealed by the narcotics unit and the forensic team.
The criminals had imported a new synthetic drug powder made in Germany called Methcathinone through international parcel service, then mixed in their own dye and manufactured it into pills.
The three ringleaders in charge of production had met as cellmates in prison. They had learned how to make the drug through the dark web, and used a tablet press to stamp the pills out.
They were found to have manufactured about 20,000 pills so far, and additional charges were brought after it was revealed they had also produced synthetic cannabis by mixing e-cigarette liquid with raw materials for synthetic marijuana.
Inside the factory, investigators discovered 13 liters of the synthetic cannabis they had made, 5,000 methcathinone pills, and 10 kilograms of raw powder in sacks.
The estimated street value exceeded ten billion won. If it had been released into the market, it would have swallowed all of Annam City whole.
Drug manufacturing carries heavier sentences than trafficking and can have even greater social fallout.
Reporters poured out one article after another, and public praise for Annam Police Station, which had found the factory and handled the initial response flawlessly, began to surge.
***
Chief Kim Gwang-yeon of Annam Police Station’s office.
"Hah-ha! At last I get to meet the heroes who’ve made our station shine."
Chief Kim Gwang-yeon hurried over with a bright smile to greet Lee Joo-seok and Song Tan.
Already inside the chief’s office were the head of the detective division and Team Leader Han Byung-woo of Violent Crimes Team 1.
Once the two of them sat down, the praise truly began.
The detective division head and Team Leader Han started first.
"The narcotics unit said the scene preservation was perfect, which made the forensics work incredibly easy."
"And that’s not all. Those junkies swinging knives around after getting high—you subdued them perfectly without a single injury, didn’t you? I’d call that the textbook example of initial response."
Han Byung-woo lifted the corner of his mouth and looked at Lee Joo-seok.
"Joo-ttol. You could handle things this cleanly, so why have you been causing so much trouble all this time? Have you finally come to your senses?"
Lee Joo-seok said nothing, lowering his head.
The team leader, looking pleased at that, patted his shoulder.
"Good work, you idiot. I’m praising you."
"Ah, yes..."
The chief, watching them with a saintly smile, nodded.
"The commissioner even called me personally. He said Annam Police Station helped stop southern Gyeonggi from becoming a drug-infested wasteland before it could spread any further. He was so full of praise, I tell you. Hah-hah, you two really pulled off something huge."
"We only did what any detective should do."
Even as Song Tan was being modest, the chief’s eyes practically dripped honey.
Then the chief gave the detective division head a meaningful look.
With a nod, the division head turned to Lee Joo-seok.
"Joo-seok, that disciplinary committee you were supposed to face—the chief will submit a request for leniency on your behalf. In other words, you don’t need to worry about it anymore."
Lee Joo-seok bowed his head.
"Thank you, Chief."
"Hah-hah, don’t mention it. And I’ll also put your names forward for a special performance award and a bonus, so keep that in mind."
The surprised team leader looked at the chief.
"Really, Chief?"
"Of course. When have I ever lied about something like this?"
"Ah, never, sir."
"You made a great contribution, one that lifted the honor of Annam Police Station. This is only right."
The chief’s face was full of the pleasure of wanting to do something for them.
"And since you two worked so hard, I’ll send you on a reward vacation too. Get some proper rest."
"Yes, understood."
Team Leader Han nodded in good spirits.
What father wouldn’t be happy to see his son praised?
Chief Kim Gwang-yeon, transformed into a veritable living Buddha, looked at the two men and asked, "Do you want anything else? If you do, speak honestly. I’ll hear whatever I can within my authority."
Lee Joo-seok and Song Tan. Their eyes met in the air.
At the same time, both of them nodded.
Song Tan spoke quietly.
"May I speak plainly?"
"Hah-hah, go ahead. Speak comfortably."
As if he’d been waiting for this, Song Tan got straight to the point.
"When major violent crimes occur, please assign our team to them first as the primary unit. And if we take on a case, I’d be grateful if you’d let us see it through to the end. Without dropping out halfway."
The chief, thoroughly bewildered, asked again, "That’s really what you want?"
"Yes. If you’ll leave it to us, I won’t disappoint you."
The chief’s head turned slightly toward Lee Joo-seok.
"You feel the same way?"
With a grin, Lee Joo-seok threw an arm around Song Tan’s neck.
"I’m not causing trouble anymore either, so could you grant the little one’s wish just once?"
Song Tan, who had been sitting quietly, also looped an arm around Lee Joo-seok’s shoulder.
"Can you really turn over a new leaf, Senior?"
"I’m telling you I’ll really try, junior."
"These lunatics..."
The words burst from the detective division head and Team Leader Han at the same time.